Sturrock: ''Still an awful long way to go and plenty of hard work still to be done'

06 July 2011 03:24

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Southend United manager Paul Sturrock has been reflecting on his first year in charge and here are some of his thoughts from the Echo. Sturrock: 'We have to push on and work even harder on the training ground' It's been a year, and Blues boss Paul Sturrock has no intention of taking his foot off the pedal as he wants to take the Shrimpers to the next level, from midtable to a serious promotion push. Sturrock told www.echo-news.co.uk: “It’s important that we kick on and keep the club moving forward. On the pitch we need to make sure we go up the leagues and, off it, it’s important we get into the new stadium to secure a brighter future. I’m pleased with how things have gone during the first year but there’s still an awful long way to go and plenty of hard work still to be done.” Luggy joined during the Shrimpers summer of disconsent which followed relegation into the basement division, the sacking of much admired manager Steve Tilson, and the mass exodus of the majority of the playing staff who hadn't been paid for several of the previous months. Sturrock continued: “It was a tough time and one of the hardest I’ve gone into at a football club. On my first day we had nine players and five of those wrote me a letter saying they wanted to leave because of the situation with their wages. That meant I had four players to work with and couldn’t bring any others in. We finally managed to register 17 players just before the first game of the season so to go from there to where we are now is pleasing. But we have to push on and work even harder on the training ground.” The trouble is that with some of the dead wood being thrown out and the signings of Neil Harris, Alassane N’Diaye and Jemal Johnson, and Luggy insisting to the Echo that another is on the way, he did say he wanted yet another striker, the optimism button has been well and truly pressed, with many of the Shrimpers faithful expecting nothing less than a return to League One coming sometime in May. No pressure then. One Year On: www.southendunited-mad.co.uk Blues on Camera: www.southendunited-mad.co.uk